A surprise was waiting for me on my recent visit to the International Center for a Culture of Compassion (ICCC). I was always drawn to the beauty of Matisse’s Chapelle de Vence. I was curious to know what the presenting artist, Alain Kirili, had to say about this beautiful and inspiring chapel. Was it going be an expression of egotistical knowledge of art or something more genuine? Matisse had said he designed La Chapelle to “awaken the desire to be fulfilled in the Eucharist”. What would Alain say?

As he walked out of the museum after seeing 'STREET' for the first time, Jesse Scheinin felt compelled to "turn his life into art", quite literally . . . ‘STREET’ is a 61-minute high definition video filmed over one week in September 2011 in the streets of New York City by the artist James Nares. The film shows ordinary street life dramatically slowed down by the high speed camera which reveals the subtle gestures and nuances of human movement and interaction. Step back a minute from the fast paced reality, open your eyes, and look at the streets of New York . . . as if for the first time.

"The one thing that I have grown into, is working with things that have been used before. They have a symbolic value, you know, or meaning… They represent the people who are suffering. Because in their younger life, when [these materials] are ok, there is a lot of activity going on in them. But when they get old they are discarded, and that's the time when I intervene, looking for a way to uplift them." The man who speaks like this is El Anatsui. Born in Ghana in 1944, El Anatsui is a sculptor living in Nigeria, where he works with his many assistants on what could be defined an "art of resurrection."

I would like introduce you to an artist I have come to know during my time in Chile. An artist that in my opinion, represents a culture of the many street musicians of Valparaiso. An artist that has helped me understand humanity in the little things that makes us unique. Better known as Chinoy, Mauricio Castillo has left his imprint in the new generation of Chilean artist with the tile of ¨El Bob Dylan de Chile¨.

As we enter deeply into the Paschale Triduum, we remember many things including Christianity's delicate, two-thousand year discussion of suffering’s place in the divine realm. The belief in Jesus Christ as the God-man suffering death “even death on the cross” (Philippians 2:8) for humanity’s redemptive return into unity with God has necessitated the delicate conversation. The imperative Christian question is then, did God suffer and die on the cross?